Sunday, September 13, 2015

To Be, or Not To Be, Special.

Image Fromhttp://erosewall.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/rules.png

“Man is rightly called and judged,” declared Mirandola, “a
miracle.” Centered on two evidences, the ability to reason and the ability to
“ordain for thyself the limits of thy nature” (Mirandola), renaissance humanism
was largely theological (New World Encyclopedia). God made man to be special.
But whether or not we continue to be so was up to debate.

John Calvin said no. Despite being Mirandola’s contemporary –
their lifespans missed each other by a paltry fifteen years – our image of him
is not of a man-fan. We vaguely lump him in with the dour Puritans of American
Colonialism and disapprove of his ideas about predestination. He was,
nonetheless, humanistic. Wrote he, “it is of importance to know that we were
endued with reason and intelligence, in order that we might cultivate a holy
and honourable life, and regard a blessed immortality as our destined aim”
(211). He followed it by calling our current state of affairs a “sad spectacle”
brought about by Adam. By way of the fall, we lost our innate goodness and
stand in need of Christ in order to regain it.

Mirandola said yes. In his essay, man begins as a wonder by
virtue of his creation. We then continue as such based upon individual desire
and choice: we may degrade, or we may progress.

Nowadays, the base assumption – that man is wonderful and
superior to other life forms – has come under scrutiny. What truly makes man
unique? Researchers have found numerous examples of other life forms meeting us
head to head on matters of architecture, warfare, charity, compassion, service,
government and intelligence. (For some examples, see these articles on rats,
whales and others.)

In other ways, humanism manifests itself in social movements.
Where would human rights be without the belief in the importance of man? The
pushback against body shaming, racial oppression and homophobia all stem from
the same.

So. Are we special because we’re a superior life form? Or is
it in our social relationships that humanism will survive?